1. Field
The following description relates to a fuse of a semiconductor device, and, for example, to an electrical fuse of an electrically programmable semiconductor device and a method for fabricating the same.
2. Description of Related Art
With the high integration and high storage capacity of modern semiconductor devices, a defect may occur in a memory cell of the semiconductor devices during the fabrication process. This may lead to a reduction in product yield.
In order to improve the product yield that is reduced due to the high integration of modern semiconductor memory devices, the technology of redundancy circuitry has been developed. In a redundancy circuit technology, a predetermined test is performed to detect cells in which a defect has occurred. In the event that a defect is detected, a corresponding fuse within a fuse box is selectively opened, whereby a main cell having the defect may be replaced with a redundancy cell that is provided around the main cell, using a redundancy circuit.
Often, the fuse is blown by irradiating the fuse with a laser beam to form the circuit. However, this type of fuse structures are not highly reliable and cannot be used at a package level. Also, with this technique, it is difficult to reduce the pitch of the fuse. With the increasing minimization of chip sizes, it is difficult for this type of fuses to be used in chips having small dimensions.
Recently, in order to minimize chip sizes, an electrical fuse system that shorts a fuse by applying an electrical current has been developed. In an electrical fuse system, a programming current flows through a fuse link, causing the fuse link to heat and open. This programming process may also be referred to as blowing the fuse.
However, in these electrical fuses, because the contacts are arranged at a wide end portion of the cathode, away from the fuse link, electromigration occurs over a relatively wide area, whereby a large current becomes necessary during the blowing process.